Israeli Firms, Leviathan in Natural Gas Talks
The partners in Israel's offshore Leviathan natural gas site said on Thursday they were in talks to supply gas to a number of Israeli companies. In a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, units of Delek Group said the firms were private electricity producers and industrial companies but did not offer further details. Last month, after years of political infighting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a deal giving long-awaited approval for the development of Leviathan off Israel's Mediterranean coast.
Ukraine Energy Minister Indicates Russia Q4 Gas Price Will Be Less Than $228
Ukrainian energy minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn indicated on Monday that the price Ukraine was willing to pay Russia for gas supplies in the fourth quarter was less than $228 per thousand cubic metres (tcm). When asked at a briefing if Ukraine would pay $230 or $228 per tcm for supplies from Russia, Demchyshyn pointed downwards, indicating the price would be lower. Gas talks between Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission have led to a tentative agreement on supplies for the winter, but the deal has not yet been signed. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk)
EU Gas Talks Could Yield Pact on Friday
EU says expects Ukraine to remain reliable transit route. High-level talks in Brussels between Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission are expected to clinch a deal late on Friday to secure winter gas supplies for Ukraine. Tensions between Russia, Europe's biggest gas supplier, and Ukraine, the main transit route to the EU, have been high since Moscow's seizure of Crimea in March 2014. Against that backdrop, Moscow and Kiev have been haggling over gas prices and in the latest flare-up, Moscow in July cut off supplies to Kiev.
Brussels to Host Russia-Ukraine Gas Talks
Talks aimed at resuming gas supplies from Russia to Ukraine will take place in Brussels on Friday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday. Novak added that the Russian government should approve the size of the gas price discount for Ukraine before the end of the month. Moscow halted gas flows to Ukraine, through which around half of Russian gas traverses to the Europe, in July after Russian gas pipeline producer Gazprom said Kiev had failed to make prepayments for future supplies. Reporting by Denis Pinchuk and Anastasia Lyrchikova
Moscow Says Gas Talks with Ankara Slowed Due to Election in Turkey
Gas talks, including discussions about the proposed TurkStream pipeline, have slowed due to a forthcoming parliamentary election in Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. He also said no deal had been reached during a visit by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Moscow on Wednesday and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The gas business has been discussed ... The business has slowed due to parliamentary election in Turkey on Nov. 1," Peskov said.
European Commission, Russia Had Constructive Gas Talks
The European Commission said it had "constructive" talks about gas transfers via Ukraine with Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Gazprom's Chief Executive Alexei Miller on Friday. "The meeting took place in a constructive atmosphere and focused on the actions needed to ensure stable gas supplies to Ukraine and via Ukraine to the EU during winter," the Commission said after the meeting in Vienna. "Today's meeting created a solid basis for convening a trilateral meeting with Russia and Ukraine and to finalise a new package in the near future…
Russia Softens Gas Rhetoric Ahead of Ukraine Talks
Russia, Ukraine, EC meet in Vienna on June 30; Russia offers Kiev $40 discount. Russia proposes keeping the gas price for Ukraine unchanged in the third quarter, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday, a day before Russia's energy minister goes to Vienna for gas talks. "Despite all the difficulties in our current relations with Ukraine, we should within reason make concessions," Medvedev told Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller. Gazprom had said Ukraine would be charged $287 per 1,000 cubic metres with no discount in the third quarter.
Putin: Russia Cannot Give Ukraine Same Gas Discount as Before
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia could not provide Ukraine with the gas price discount it once had, days before Russia, Ukraine and the European Union will meet for another round of gas talks. Putin told a government meeting that the gas price for Ukraine should be in line with that paid by countries like Poland. Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission have been discussing the terms for Russian gas supplies to Kiev after a short-term agreement expires at the end of this month.
Putin: No Gas Discount for Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia could not provide Ukraine with the gas price discount it once had, days before Russia, Ukraine and the European Union will meet for another round of gas talks. Putin told a government meeting that the gas price for Ukraine should be in line with that paid by countries like Poland. Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission have been discussing the terms for Russian gas supplies to Kiev after a short-term agreement expires at the end of this month.
Russia Says Gas Talks with Ukraine to Continue in April
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday that Moscow will continue talks on gas supplies to Ukraine in April after he met Ukrainian and the European Union officials in Brussels. In televised comments, Novak also said that the Russian government will consider a discount for gas supplies to Ukraine in the second quarter and that a take-or-pay clause will be enacted from April 1. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by David Goodman)
Brussels to Host 'Kick-off' Gas Talks on Friday
Talks between Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers and the European Commission to take place on Friday are a preliminary step towards a deal by around June on ensuring future gas supplies, EU officials said. Last year the Commission, the EU executive, brokered a series of three-way talks that led to an accord in October to keep gas flowing over the peak demand winter months despite acute tension between Kiev, Moscow and Brussels over Russia's annexation of Crimea. The "winter package" expires on March 31…
Russia's Gas Talks with Turkey Underway
Russia's gas talks with Turkey are underway and the Kremlin is hoping for mutually acceptable outcome, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the "Turkish Stream" gas project during a telephone call as Moscow continues to push for its new undersea pipeline to Europe. "Commercial negotiations between Gazprom and Turkish partners are underway," the Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists.
EU Confirms March 20 for Ukraine-Russia Gas Talks
The European Commission confirmed on Wednesday that Brussels would host talks on Friday with Ukraine and Russian officials to discuss Russian gas supplies to Ukraine. A temporary agreement, called the winter package and brokered by the EU last year, expires at the end of March. Reporting By Barbara Lewis
Russia Agrees to Hold Gas Talks with EU, Ukraine
Russia's Energy Ministry said on Tuesday it had agreed to meet Ukrainian and EU officials on March 20 in Brussels to discuss Russian gas supplies to Ukraine. A temporary agreement, called the 'winter package', brokered by the EU expires on March 31. Reporting by Polina Devitt and Denis Pinchuk
EU: No Date for Ukraine-Russia Gas Talks
The European Union has yet to receive confirmation that Ukraine and Russia will meet on March 20 to discuss gas supplies, the bloc's Energy Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Friday. Speaking to Reuters at a meeting of foreign ministers in the Slovak mountain resort of Strbske Pleso, Sefcovic said it had been agreed previously that a meeting should take place before the current "winter package" expires at the end of March. This deal on Russian gas for Ukraine, brokered and part-financed by the EU, runs out at the end of the month.
Russia: Ukraine Has One Week to Ante Up
Ukraine should be able to find ways of paying for Russian gas supplies within a week, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, suggesting a standoff would end once Moscow received financial guarantees from Kiev. The latest round of gas talks between Moscow and Kiev ended late on Tuesday in Brussels with no agreement in a dispute that prompted Russia to cut off gas supplies to its neighbour in mid-June, potentially hurting flows west to the European Union. But while Novak said he was optimistic for new talks on Oct.
Hope and Obstacles as Russia and Ukraine Seek Gas Deal
A tentative agreement between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents has raised hopes of ending a dispute in which Moscow has halted natural gas supplies to Kiev, but several obstacles still have be overcome. Movement on the gas row was the only sign of progress at talks between Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko on Friday which failed to resolve differences over fighting in eastern Ukraine and a deep crisis in relations. The two sides, whose energy ministers will meet in Brussels on Tuesday…
Ukraine Gas Talks to Resume on Tuesday
A new round of trilateral talks bringing together Ukraine, Russia and the European Commission to try to solve a gas pricing row will take place next Tuesday in Brussels, not Berlin, the EU's energy chief said. The talks had previously been expected to be held in Berlin, but European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said on Thursday that the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers would meet with the Commission in Brussels on Oct. 21. The European Union's executive hopes to broker…
European Winter Gas Prices Drop
European winter natural gas price benchmarks dropped over 1.5 percent on Friday afternoon as a deal between the European Union, Russia and Ukraine that would help prevent a winter supply shortfall appeared closer. British benchmark natural gas prices for delivery during the winter 2014/2015 season, which starts next Wednesday, dropped 1.54 percent to 57.65 pence per therm. Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak said after gas talks with Ukraine in Berlin on Friday that an interim deal mediated by the European Union could be the basis for a solution over the winter.
Russia, EU to Continue Ukraine Gas Talks
Russia and the European Union will continue talks on gas supplies to Ukraine on Thursday or Friday in Berlin, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday. He said he had no information about whether Exxonmobil had stopped its operations in Russia. Earlier, a Russian influential business daily reported that the U.S. oil major had halted its operations in Russia to comply with Western sanctions against Moscow. Reporting By Darya Korsunskaya
